1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an encryption system. More particularly, the invention relates to an exclusive encryption system employing a unique encryption algorithm for each implementation.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various methods for encrypting digital data exist. Some of those are well known, as in the case of the DES Digital Encryption Standard) and AES (Advanced Encryption Standard). Both of these standards depend on the security of the key and the complexity and thoroughness of the encryption system to preclude any statistical attacks. Further, in modern cryptography, as it applies to digital data, the accepted practice is to use encryption systems that operate on large block sizes (such as 128-bit data or larger) with large keys (128-bit or greater). This practice makes brute force attack (attempting every possible combination) upon the encrypted data difficult and impractical. Modern encryption systems further employ multiple rounds (or iterations) of encryption to add further complexity and reduce recognizable patterns in the data.
The encryption systems utilizing DES and AES are well known and have been well scrutinized, evaluated, and tested. These encryption systems represent a departure from the historical norm where the details of the encryption system were closely guarded. The philosophy of these public encryption systems is to make the details public in order to strengthen the algorithms (as a result of scrutiny and evaluation of the encryption community) and keep the large key (which is relatively immune to brute force attack) secure. Ultimately, the security of these systems resides in the use of large and secure keys.
One issue that is not addressed in public encryption systems such as DES and AES is the problem of covert research and attacks. Often referred to as “Hackers” and the activities as “Hacker attacks”, there is an element of society that has demonstrated a desire to scrutinize, evaluate, and test security systems without the intention of sharing their results for the purpose of constructive contribution. These people (and others) have demonstrated a desire to exploit weaknesses without sharing details of the weakness so that improved security systems can be developed.
The present exclusive encryption system addresses this limitation of public encryption systems by providing a system and method for employing a unique encryption algorithm while still using an encryption system that has been strengthened by public analysis and evaluation.